Selena Gomez Explains Why She ‘Stepped Back a Bit’ From the Spotlight After Kidney Transplant

Selena Gomez's key to a happy life involves taking it slow. It's a strategy that's proven to work well for the 25-year-old, who, just last summer, underwent a "life or death" kidney transplant as a result of her lupus.

Now, in a June 29 interview with Good Morning America, Gomez reveals the reason she's remained more or less absent from the spotlight and how her withdrawal offered her a new outlook on life since the operation.

“Honestly, I’ve just kind of stepped back a bit,” the "Wolves" singer told GMA beside her castmate Andy Samberg, with whom she interviewed in support of their new animated film, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.

“I enjoy my life. I don’t really think about anything that causes me stress anymore, which is really nice,” she explained, adding, "I don't even live in L.A. anymore. I don't pay attention to trying to get people to like me as much."

"A few hours after our surgery, I woke up and had a text from her that said, 'I'm really scared,'" Raisa recalled to the pub. "My kidney was very active, and when it turned I broke an artery. They had to take her into emergency surgery and get a vein from her leg and build a new artery to keep my kidney in place. She could have died."